The present invention concerns the provision of supporting means along a stairway which can be quickly grapsed by a person going up or down to steady himself, which may be in supplement to his grasping a baluster or side rail.
Preferably, this steadying support means is in the form of safety suspension support means that includes relatively fixed overhead structure, which may be a stairhead, and, in any event, extends along the stairway above the flight of stairs therein. A plurality of depending loops of flexible strand means are suspended successively from the overhead structure providing a series thereof with these loops desirably located, in a preferred embodiment, along and substantially in a medial zone of the stairway. Such row of loops has the bottoms thereof located above the steps less than the heights of people who will be going up and down such stairway. Certain means, which may be anchoring devices or structures, dictate that the planes of these loops are oriented generally longitudinally along the stairway, at least within a central longitudinal zone of the latter while leaving clear longitudinal zones flanking opposite sides of this central zone, e.g., intervening the latter and hand rails on opposite sides of this central zone.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide in a simple and economical manner such a safety structure which may be readily installed without demanding any great skill and expensive equipment, while being capable of pleasing appearance after installation and quickly grasped by a descending or ascending person who may stumble and tend to risk falling in going down or up the stairway.
The applicant is not aware of any prior proposal that is pertinent to the present invention. However, he knows of the old U.S. Pat. No. to Ries No. 866,812 of Sept. 24, 1907, in which a vehicle designed for transport of people, such as a streetcar that travels along a track of a pair of transversely spaced rails, is equipped interiorly with longitudinal, overhead, hand rods from which hand-graspable, flexible, suspension loops depend for passengers to grasp for steadying themselves, while standing, against the swaying and accelerating and decelerating motions of the car. The proposals of that disclosure are not adapted to help people to avoid falling on a flight of stairs while ascending or descending.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention the stairway is equipped with a row of successive depending loops with the planes thereof extending generally longitudinally to assure retention of a clear path up and down the stairway for people to ascend and descend without such loops interfering with such movements, but being readily available to the grasp of any such person who may tend to stumble while climbing or descending. If the stairway has a stairhead the top ends of such depending loops are anchored thereto in any suitable manner, such as by an elongated beam structure extending longitudinally along the flight of stairs and fastened to the stairhead. If desired one leg of each loop may be anchored to one side of the anchoring beam and the other leg to the opposite beam side with the anchored ends spread appreciably along the beam so as to assure easy grasping access to each such loop.
Another object of the invention is to provide a considerable number of such widespread loops and to lap them relative to each other whereby the depending legs thereof are located at frequent intervals for ready availability to the grasps of the stair climbers.
A further object is to provide loop leg top end anchorages of a releasable and adjustable type whereby a single length of the looping strand may be employed without requiring cutting thereof into lengths.